one of saddam hussein's most loyal ministers dies in prison at the age of 79. hello there, i'm phallusty barr and this is al jazeera live from london. also coming up an agreement to keep oil production at the same rate despite calls from the industry to push prices higher. india bans the sale of the hugely popular maggie noodles after dangerous levels of lead are detected in some samples. and china calls the u.s.

irresponsible after it claims beijing is behind its biggest-ever hack of government data. ♪ hello. he was the international face of saddam hussein's iraq for more than 20 years. he has died at the age of 79 after suffering a heart attack in prison. he became the foreign minister in 1983 during the iraq iran war. when saadam invaded kuwait in 1990 he was supported by his deputy. al jazeera's kim vinnell looks back at his life. >> reporter: for many he was the best-known face of saddam hussein's regime. traveling the globe, meeting

world leaders, he defended his boss's policies at every turn even after the gassing which killed some 5,000 kurds, he deflected the blame. >> reporter: according to the information i have it was the iranians, it wasn't iraq. >> reporter: he is a christian and came to the party in the 1950s. by the time they came to power in iraq in 1968, the former english teacher was already a prominent figure. in 1970 he was named inform minister. in the '80s he became foreign minister tasked with strengthening diplomatic relations between baghdad and washington. [ explosion ] >> reporter: but when saadam ordered the invasion of kuwait in 1990 he had to face the world and condemned arab leaders

for not standing up to the u.s. the u.s. responded to the invasion by declaring war on iraq. for iraq the results were devastating. the army defeated and the country facing harsh international sanctions. he continued to defend saadam's policies and condemned what he described as constant u.s. hostility against iraq but that loyalty couldn't keep saadam in power and in 2003 under the guise of searching for weapons of mass destruction, the u.s. invaded. he was the ace of spades in the u.s.'s famous deck of cards of the u.s.'s most wanted iraqi leader. in 2009 he was convicted on two different counts and sentenced to 22 years in prison the next year he was sentenced to death

for the persecution of religion parties. he remained on death row and loyal to saddam hussein until his death. >> how is the news of his death being received in iraq? >> reporter: i have to state's almost been stewously ignored. there is no day or mourning no eulogies. he was a hated member of saddam hussein's regime but he was slightly isolated because he was never the heard core that went after his opponents and carried out murder. he was always seen as being the political diplomatic figure within the regime. and he does have an international presence as you heard from kim ki-jongvinnell. a lot of people see him as a stanch defender of iraq. he also appeared in the media us

specially during the war, where he would say there are only two reasons for this it's oil, and israel and america must take responsibility. he was always seen as man that was staunchly loyal. and that's why his legacy is slightly more complicated than say the legacy of saddam hussein. one of the key figures in iraqi politics here has been very kind about him, saying to the end, he was always a defender of iraq despite his loyalty to saddam hussein. >> it was back in 2009 that he was sentenced to death. in that sentence was never carried out, do we know why? >> reporter: there is a lot of speculation. i think the biggest reason that most people here will tell you is because he was seen as a loyalist and somebody that did defend iraq. he went out and spoke to the international media, and all of

the politicians and diplomats, and tried to avoid going to war whereas saddam hussein almost encouraged the americans to come to war with his language and his brinkmanship. he was never seen as the man who carried out a lot of the death sentences against opponents. >> imran khan live with the latest from baghdad. thanks, imran. ♪ the nation that produces more than a third of the world's oil exports has decided to keep production at 30 million barrels a day despite the price of oil falling during the last year because of oversupply. prices again dropped slightly

after the announcement. our correspondent has the latest from those opec talks in vienna. >> reporter: there was no suspense at the beginning of the day as opec started meeting, and there was no surprise at the end of the day. as widely expected opec's decision was to keep output levels at current levels. what was interesting was that in the press conference it was announced that what had been decided upon was for the good of all opec countries, the rich nations and the poor nations, but there has been an under current of tensions lately especially with countries like venezuela. despite the fact that countries like venezuela, angola other countries had wanted to see a change in the output level, that didn't happen and opec ministers insisted that was for the best that decision being driven largely by the gulf

countries. another current of tension was the iran question but that was put on the back burner for now. iran has said they are ready to start getting their oil out there in the marketplace again, but that will depend on if sanctions are lifted and that will hinge on what happens in the nuclear deliberations that are still ongoing. the united nations security council is calling for the ceasefire in eastern ukraine to be fully respected. the emergency meeting of the security council was called by lithuania, amid fears that the violence will escalate. kristen saloomey is live for us at the united nations. so a lot of concern being shown at the u.n. about the situation in ukraine. >> reporter: that's right. as you say, this meeting was called amid concerns that the situation in the ukraine could escalate after reporting of tank movements from separatists

territories towards the strategic town of mirinka, and also reports from the president of the ukraine, on thursday who said that there were 9,000 russian troops amassing on the ukraine border. the united states has responded by sending its top defense officials to germany to discuss a possible way to deal with this russian movement. so this was the backdrop for this council meeting, which included a briefing from the u.n.'s undersecretary general for political affairs, and also the representative of the osce who is a venntive of the osce which is the monstering group, the european monitoring group watching the situation in ukraine. and he said this latest activity maybe is not an intenseification

for violence but it is worrying. >> the actions are worrying suggesting that any military track has not been abandoned in favor of the political one. these events undermine the need to break the cycle of violence now, before further escalation takes place. we urgently call on all sides to return to the negotiation table. >> was this just a talking shop or will there be something more concrete? >> reporter: no action came out of the meeting, the last time the security council took action was three months ago when it passed a resolution in support of the minsk agreement, which did bring some relative calm to the area but today it was all about finger pointing the russians accused the ukrainians of escalating activity the

europeans and the united states pointed fingers back at russia saying we all know who is driving this activity and so on and so forth. but one member of the security council told us it was important to have meetings like this to put the pressure on russia and let them know the world is watching. >> kristen thing you. in syria u.s.-lead coalition forces have reportedly launched more strikes in aleppo province. opposition fighters are also reported to have taken control of a town south of aleppo. more than 45 people have been killed in a suicide bombing in the nigerian city. dozens of others were injured. the attackers walked into the main market with explosives strapped to their bodies. police say they faked a fight to attract onlookers. boko haram has carried out

several attacks in the north of the state in recent weeks. no one yet has claimed responsibility for the bombs. still to come on the program. hungry and cared. we're with the italian navy as they rescue frightened migrants from the med -- mediterranean. and the fake while being used to scare off sea lions in the u.s. state of oregon. a real look at the american dream hard earned

hello again, a reminder of

the top stories here on al jazeera, the former iraqi foreign minister has died at the age of 79 after suffering a heart attack in prison. he was the international face of saddam hussein's iraq for more than 20 years. opec has decided to keep oil production at 30 million barrels a day. and the u.n. security council has held an emergency meeting and is calling for the ceasefire in eastern ukraine to be fully respected. it follows the worst bout of fighting since a deal was brokers in february. india's food safety regulators have banned the sale and production of maggie noodles, a hugely popular food often served to children. they say dangerous levels of lead have been detected in some

samples. our correspondent reports from new delhi. >> reporter: for more than 20 years this man and his family have been selling maggie noodles to university students in new delhi. they have made the noodle their own, by creating 50 different dishes but their business has dropped by 50% since india's food regulator found samples of maggie noodles were unsafe to eat. >> translator: we have dropped the name maggie from our menu board. we have also substituted maggie noodles with other noodle brands. we will not use maggie at our shop until the government says the brand is adhering to safety standards. >> reporter: to prevent further fallout, nestle' global ceo has stepped in. he says the noodles are safe.

consumer rights activists say the decision to stop selling the noodles is too late. >> considering the effects of lead on children and the fact that this is high levels of lead in blood in children is already a problem in india, i think they should have acted far more quickly. >> reporter: for decades millions of indians have eaten products made locally. in the past other brands have also faced scrutiny. this has once again raised questions about india's food safety standards, and whether the rules are stringent enough. while governments and regulatory bodies are focusing on nestle' india, experts warn this is part of a much bigger national crisis. >> these contaminates are part of our environment, it's about

the soil the water, the air. there are so many things which come from different sources. >> reporter: already a ban on one of india's most popular foods is hurting appetites and business. that's a worrying sign for this man who's bread and butter business is maggie noodles. it has been called the biggest hack of u.s. government data ever. the u.s. suspects china, but the chinese embassy in washington says such accusations are irresponsible. for more on that kimberly halkett joins us live from washington, d.c. how brood is this breach of security? >> reporter: well that's an investigate -- a question investigators are still trying to figure out.

we know it is in the executive branch we know so far it hasn't spread to the legislative branch. but we know there may be a correlation or connection with another breach that occurred for two very large healthcare companies in the united states who report around a similar time they too suffered a major beach exposing personnel and medical data. so the question really is for the office of personnel management it is really advising all of the former and current employees to check credit reports, financial records, the concern being that this is even wider spread than first believed. >> why is the u.s. so convinced that china is behind all of this? >> reporter: well they aren't saying at this point. but there does seem to be a pathway that leads back to china. the question is whether it leads to the state, and some have

speculated those working for the chinese military or just actors within china, that is still being determined. at the same time we have had those denies coming from the chinese authorities, saying the u.s. is jumping to conclusions, the accusations are groundless also saying they are hopeful this will be an incident that will turn the two indication nation -- nations and others to work together to combat these attacks. floating cranes have pulled the wreck of the eastern star cruise ship from the yangsy river in china. the chinese government say there is no hope of finding survivors. adrian brown has more. >> reporter: the three-day recovery effort yielded little so the only option to remove

bodies was to right to wright the eastern star two large floating cranes were used helping to slowly turn the vessel up right. nets were spread around the ship to catch what fell from inside. >> translator: the next step is to pump water out of the ship make it float on water and salvage it. we will also search for victims and check for leaking oil. >> reporter: this began after the government announced it didn't expect to find anymore survivor survivors. powerful currents of the river have dragged some bodies further downstream. along the river bank volunteers are helping in the grim process of recovery a task that could go on for many days. there are more than a thousand family members of the missing in

this city it is closest to the accident and where many local team have been traumatized. such spontaneous gatherings would normally be a cause of unseize for the authorities, but they allowed the candle lit vigil to go ahead. >> translator: he came here by ourselves to pray. we hope that the dead people can leave the world peacefully. >> translator: we all cried. we are all very sad. it is heart breaking. i have been taking care of family members for the last few days. >> reporter: adrian brown, al jazeera, southern china. the deadline has passed for greece to pay back millions of dollars to its creditors. the greek prime minister is briefing parliament after deciding to postpone the payment until the end of the month.

it was due to hand over $338 million to the international monetary fund. at then's government came to power in january of this year on an anti austerity platform. john is in the greek capitol athens for us right now. and i expect this is going to be a difficult briefing for the prime minister to do in parliament. >> that's right. he has got to now strengthen cohesion within his party, and strengthen cohesion within parliament as a whole, and also try to reassure the nation that all isn't lost. talks are now at a stand still, because the greek government had raised some hopes that with the comprehensive proposal it sent on monday to its creditors there was a common basis for talks. that proposal was supposedly taking into account everything that had been discussed over the last four months.

so it twhouthz that was a springboard for the last leap to get to a final conclusive agreement this month. the greeks say many of the proposals that they were met with, predate the greek election in january, and don't take into account the compromises of the last four months. so there is a great sense of disappointment, which has had a knock-on effect and some talking about an election in july which suggests that the government would feel empowered for a greatly increased mandate in order to broaden its area of maneuverability in order to perhaps steer the country from the euro zone. >> john stay with us. i'm just reading a few lines of what he is saying at the moment. our proposal to the lenders is the only realistic basis for

reaching a deal. we need the end of austerity in combination with debt relief. just how much trouble is the prime minister in with his own party? >> reporter: well, he heads a motley crew. he took it over in 2008. it consists of a number of different left-ring groupings, some more radical anothers. for the moment the moderate view that greece has to stay on its course is pursuing. the worry here is that the lobby has now met with a correspondent ponding anti-greek lobby among creditors who are trying to push greece towards an impasse and an exit from the euro zone.

so he has to not alienate the left wing and also maintain hope within the country as a whole. but there is still a majority of the creditors who want greece to remain within the euro zone on reasonable terms not on terms that would deepen recession and worsen poverty here. at least ten people have been injured in an explosion in southeastern turkey. it happened at an opposition rally. the incident is believed to have been caused by an electrical fault. every day thousands of migrants are being picked up by rescue boats in the mediterranean. many are still trying to recover from the ordeals they went through before their journey began. hoda abdel hamid sent this report. >> reporter: their stories are common ones of escape from war,

oppression and poverty. their ordeals symbols of this me troubles of our times. s are king their-- risking their lives was their only option. a they were found adrift by the italian border police. they rush to get on board. a testimony of how frightened they were stranded in the water, with no coast in site. he says the libyan skipper abandoned them. they had no water or food. no one knew how to steer the boat. their suffering is etched on their faces. some stair into oblivion perhaps trying to come to terms with what they have been through. this woman left behind her two children with her mother. her husband is in yemen. he lost contact with him when war broke out two months ago. >> we could not talk or ask anything in libya.

each time we opened our mouth they would beat us with a stick. they raped us until we paid money. it was horrible. i never expected to be treated like that in an arab country. there was no mercy. i really thank italy. nobody has been so nice with us in a long time. >> reporter: the women huddle together even though the ship is slowly taking them away from the african coast, forgetting the rape and humiliation won't be possible. some are pregnant. there are also many teenagers. this person first fled from somalia to yemen, but war caught up with him, so he had to move again. >> in sudan i was captured and locked in a house for 18 days. i escaped and went to libya. i was penniless. i was hoping to find compassion. but nothing. >> translator: today is my

birthday, when i touch land i will drink ten pepsis to celebrate. it's a new beginning. >> reporter: the deck was silent. many slump into deep sleep. the ship continued to sail back to europe. as night falls and the coast of italy appears, life returns on deck. now there are smiles. perhaps the first ones in a long time. this is the moment they have been waiting for so patiently here on deck. the moment they can get off of the boat and touch land. it means they are finally in europe, a whole new life is starting, even though they don't know what it means. there is a rush to get off of the ship. this time there's excitement maybe even amazement that after suffering so much they are some of the lucky ones who made it to europe. hoda abdel hamid, al jazeera, lamp due sa. a fake killer whale that was being used to scare all sea

lions has now run into trouble. the orca capsized. it was brought to washington state to address the growing sea lion problem. much more on our stories at our website, aljazeera.com. hatchers steal the personal information of 4 million federal employees and the u.s. blames china. 280,000 jobs created last month. and saddam hussein's former right-hand man has